Wisconsin 6th grade reading list

The 612 books most commonly assigned to Wisconsin 6th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books612Lexile410L–1120LSourceWI Academic Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned nationally: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the Middle (6–8) titles appearing in the most states are The Giver (20 states), The Hunger Games (14 states), and Ground Zero (8 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Start here — most-cited for Wisconsin 6th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Wisconsin’s own curriculum documents for this grade — everything below is the wider national list. Read against the Common Core Appendix A complexity band; reading level is not thematic maturity, and several sit below the band because they are assigned for discussion.

  1. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers fate vs choice, friendship and justice. At 660L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  2. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers race, homelessness and family. At 820L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  3. Hatchet

    Gary Paulsen

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers survival, resilience and self-reliance. At 1020L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  4. Number the Stars

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers courage, friendship and Holocaust. At 670L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  5. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  6. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers conformity vs individuality, memory, utopia and dystopia. At 760L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  7. The Tale of Despereaux

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers courage, forgiveness and light vs dark. At 670L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  8. The Whipping Boy

    Sid Fleischman

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers friendship, adventure and courage.

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  9. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers facial difference, kindness and bullying. At 790L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  10. Allies

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers war, courage and sacrifice.

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  11. Booked

    Kwame Alexander

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers soccer, words and family.

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  12. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers school, friendship and family. At 950L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  13. Eragon

    Christopher Paolini

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers dragons, destiny and courage.

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  14. Ground Zero

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  15. Guts

    Raina Telgemeier

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers anxiety, growing up and courage.

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  16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

    J.K. Rowling

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers friendship, courage and good vs evil. At 880L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  17. Hoot

    Carl Hiaasen

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers environmentalism, friendship and activism. At 760L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  18. How to Eat Fried Worms

    Thomas Rockwell

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers humor, friendship and school.

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  19. Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade

    Barthe DeClements

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  20. Pax

    Sara Pennypacker

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers friendship, war and loyalty. At 760L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  21. Projekt 1065

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers WWII, spying and courage.

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  22. Refugee

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers refugees, survival and family. At 800L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  23. Restart

    Gordon Korman

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers identity, bullying and memory. At 730L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  24. Stormbreaker

    Anthony Horowitz

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers spies, adventure and courage.

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  25. Summer of the Monkeys

    Wilson Rawls

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers family, perseverance and nature.

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  26. The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers authoritarianism, survival, media and spectacle. At 810L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  27. The Mark of Athena

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers mythology, friendship and quest.

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  28. Touching Spirit Bear

    Ben Mikaelsen

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers survival, nature and courage.

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  29. Two Degrees

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers climate, survival and courage.

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  30. Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Wisconsin curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6.

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612 books cited for Wisconsin 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to Wisconsin’s WI Academic Standards or national curricula with a Wisconsin-specific citation.

Show all 612 titles

Reading the whole Wisconsin 6th grade reading list? Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

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Other Wisconsin grades

5th grade · 7th grade · 4th grade · 8th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

5th grade · 7th grade · 4th grade · 8th grade

Same 6th grade in other states

California · Texas · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Illinois

Browse 6th grade reading by theme

About the Wisconsin 6th grade reading list

In Wisconsin schools, 6th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from WI Academic Standardsalongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 612 titles for 6th grade in Wisconsin, each tied to a Wisconsin-specific curriculum citation. Across the list, Lexile measures span 410L–1120L.

6th grade sits in the 6-8 grade band, where students are middle-grade readers. At this stage the emphasis is on analyzing theme, character, and author's craft across full-length novels and their first classics. Assigned reading skews toward full-length novels, plays, memoir, and frequently-challenged contemporary titles, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 700L to 1010L. Measured against that 925–1185L range, of the 58 titles here with a Lexile score 8 are grade-level, 50 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 0 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 6th grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Wisconsin’s English Language Arts requirements are set by WI Academic Standards (dpi.wi.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 6th grade list below blends Wisconsin-specific assignments with the widely-taught national canon. Every title links to its primary source on the book’s detail page, so you can confirm exactly where and why it is assigned.

How to use this list:match a title to your child’s most recent Lexile or guided-reading level rather than to the grade alone. Teachers building a 6th grade unit can pair a Wisconsin-cited core text with a grade-appropriate companion novel; parents previewing summer or supplemental reading can check each book’s content notes and challenge history before assigning it.

Common questions

How many books are assigned to 6th grade students in Wisconsin?
612 books appear on ReadingList for 6th grade students in Wisconsin, sourced from WI Academic Standards and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in Wisconsin?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade Wisconsin reading list range from 410L to 1120L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Entries reference WI Academic Standards (published at dpi.wi.gov) plus national curricula that apply to Wisconsin schools: Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English Literature and Language, IB Diploma Programme, and Cambridge Assessment International. Every assignment row on each book's detail page links its primary source.

Reading guides for parents

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State-specific entries sourced from dpi.wi.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.